Sick of heat, sick of buffeting behind fairing

[Ari Rankum]

I know that polytheism has pretty much been rejected by now. But I never saw the final debate. If there's any such thing as the Greek or Roman God of Motorcycles, your shit just got cancelled.

 

[twowheelnut]

I know that polytheism has pretty much been rejected by now. But I never saw the final debate. If there's any such thing as the Greek or Roman God of Motorcycles, your shit just got cancelled.

OK. Admins, we need a Notible Quote section pinned with absolute gems like this one. Ari, you owe me 29 bucks for a new keyboard and 4 hours of Quick Books time! Brilliant, mate! (Well, 'cept for the spelling 'n shit. )

 

[Ari Rankum]

I know that polytheism has pretty much been rejected by now. But I never saw the final debate. If there's any such thing as the Greek or Roman God of Motorcycles, your shit just got cancelled.

OK. Admins, we need a Notible Quote section pinned with absolute gems like this one. Ari, you owe me 29 bucks for a new keyboard and 4 hours of Quick Books time! Brilliant, mate! (Well, 'cept for the spelling 'n shit. )

We'll call it a draw. Cleaning supplies for some of your recent shit are worth at least 29 bucks.

 

[falcon]

Are these latest picks of your total progress? I notice that the headlight bracketing is still bolted instead of welded. I was wondering about the weight of angle iron, too. Wouldn't aluminum be more appropriate due to the weight of the steel?

This is just a test fit. I threw the tank,seat,covers on just for the pic I've been off my feet with a bad hockey injury so I have just recently gotten back in the garage. I will be welding the majority of the pieces together, just leaving the few I need for any adjustment. I want to minimize the amound of bolts I need to worry about.

The weight of the steel seems to be less than the total stamped steel structure that held the fairing / battery area. This is 1/8" thick 1" wide mild steel straps. I chose it because its ridiculously easy to work with (cutting/drilling/welding). I believe the mild steel is also slightly more malleable than the aluminum stock I would have used. This should make it less prone to cracking/breaking over time. The original fairing has the bracket that wraps around the battery and bolts to the frame. I may add a piece also, to prevent the headlights from vibrating in the horizontal (yaw) axis, which seems to be the weakest axis with the current design. I'll have to do more tests once I've welded the critical junctions.

Going to start working on the power wiring now to see how everything routes before I weld.

I hope you cats realize that the original fairing would bolt back on in a weekend, and probably less than a day once you've actually done it once or twice.

 

[Mike-H]

Totally amazed & impressed with a guy that does this "BECAUSE IT'S THERE".....all the power to you falcon....you have a fan here :fans: :drinks: :dinamo: .....

 

[Warchild]

all the power to you falcon....you have a fan here

And here as well.... pretty cool project!

I'm keen to see the final results here... this oughta be awesome! B)

 

[exocet]

LOL! I'm 5 months behind and so here it is 9/12 and I'm responding to this post...hopefully by the time I am done reading this the beast has morphed into something rideable. Who cares what it looks like!! I'm curious to see it work. I to, dislike the turbulence and associated noise with the smaller screen on the '04, but the heat I endure while riding behind a bigger screen (+4/+4) has gotten damn near intolerable. Hey, fwiw I won't be rippin the FJR apart...I just like a good story!

I rode for many years with a guy on stripped Superhawk, we called it the Naked Chicken. It was once "accosted", maybe even groped, by a rooster at an Arcadia Wi. gas station. We got pics to prove it!!

 

[Ignacio]

OK. Admins, we need a Notible Quote section pinned with absolute gems like this one. Ari, you owe me 29 bucks for a new keyboard and 4 hours of Quick Books time! Brilliant, mate! (Well, 'cept for the spelling 'n shit. )

I think Ari has made a fine addition to this board.

LMAO and shaking my head at the recent pictures. Gotta love freedom!

As for notible quotes....well....se my PM.

 

[duc&fjr]

More pics dude.. this is awesome! The FJR deserves this IMHO. I just dont have the guts to rip apart mine like you.. but then again I have a tricked out ducati monster to ride whenever I get sick of the FJR with heat, turbulence, vibs and bad suspension.

Next you need clips ons or at least something that lowers the bars, those ape hangers look worse without the fairings.

 

[FJRandy]

Looks to me like it would've been a lot less trouble if Falcon left the bike alone and just rode it naked.

Turbulence?????? Dude, you've been getting nothing BUT turbulence right from the start of your first post!

This isn't customization.......this is like turning a Caddy CTS into a Nissan Sentra.

Watching this progress is like watching a 20 car pileup in super slo-mo.

Personal opinon over. Carry on.

 

[falcon]

I started the bike up a little while ago, just to verify I didnt toast the electrical system with the battery relocation. I picked up a trick 150 amp circuit breaker from a car audio shop. I had no idea how much current the starter draws, but I figure 150 will trip if there is a massive short of the now 4 ft long power cable. It should prevent the battery from blowing up between my legs at least. The ECU / instrument cluster reports no error codes or anything, so i got all the little plugs and connectors hooked back up properly and didnt damage any wires.

Going to zip-tie up all the misc bits dangling off the wiring harness, and hook up the headlights so I can take a ride around the block. Won't weld until I've decided on a final layout for the headlights. I discovered I can rotate them up to right in front of the instrument cluster, so they protect it from debris. Still will ultimately need a little fly screen there to cover up the wiring harness to protect the various relays and accessories from the elements. And the same thing, covers for the ignition coils and radiator cap/fuse block items that are mounted on the shoulders of the frame.

The bike looks very Mad Max right now. I freakin love it!!! I'll share some pics as soon as I get things cleaned up. This project is a lot of fun and I've learned a lot and will continue to learn as I go from here. The FJR fits me better than any other bike I've sat on, and I couldn't afford to sell it and buy something else anyways. I should be able to switch to the original fairing for cold weather riding in a 1/2 day or so by my estimation.

If anyone knows if 150 amps is way overkill for max power draw, let me know and I'll switch to something with a lower rating. Its probably fine for its intended use: preventing a dead short to the 6 gauge power wire that now snakes along the inside of the frame and along the valve cover to get to the main power block.

 

[madmike2]

If anyone knows if 150 amps is way overkill for max power draw, let me know and I'll switch to something with a lower rating. Its probably fine for its intended use: preventing a dead short to the 6 gauge power wire that now snakes along the inside of the frame and along the valve cover to get to the main power block.

There are engineer-types on the forum and I, too, would be interested. As much as the starter sometimes "drags" or "complains" when the engine is hot and sits for a very short time, I wonder what the current spikes might be?

 

[hoss314]

Looks like fun! Bet you will be very proud when you are done!

 

[Fencer]

You coulda just upgraded to an 06

Have you ridden at all this season?

 

[falcon]

Shakedown run complete!

Just rode around for about 9 miles. Nothing vibrated off, snapped, popped, or blew up. I was laughing manically for the first few minutes. It was great!

Issues:

- neutral light doesn't ever illuminate.

- headlights vibrate excessively (already know solution)

- engine was pinging under heavy load, tank was near empty so i went and put some fresh 93 octane in, problem solved.

- turn signals?

- mirrors?

Not sure why netural light is out, only things not plugged in are solenoid lock for the little storage bin and the hazard light switch. I should try plugging those in and see if it fixes it.

Side panels are off for now:

Circuit breaker and wiring:

Have you ridden at all this season?

There isn't really a riding 'season' in Dallas, it gets far too hot in the summer, especially on the FJR. This year was particularly brutal, one of the top 10 hottest summers in history. Basically you ride when you can stand the weather, which is usually spring and fall, and about once a week in the winter when things warm up between cold fronts. With the fairing removed, I should be able to extend my riding farther into the summer.

I got hurt on 8/1 with torn ligaments in my ankle (ice hockey), so I wouldn't have been riding anyways. Although I did sneak in a ride on my other bike when we had a rare cool evening last month. My ankle almost didnt fit into my riding boots and hurt like hell after 20 minutes... But it was nice to ride again, as it was today!

 

[BrunDog]

I don't know if I should be giggling giddily or crying hysterically.

Either way, cool project! Keep us updated. Piccies go a long way!

-BD

 

[Bounce]

FrankenFeejer!

 

[tripletango]

She's a Trijer

 

[James Burleigh]

Just found this thread and travelled the whole distance (April to now) in 20 minutes. I went from "Oh my god! It's a motorcycle autopsy!" to "Cool."

In april you wrote, "The front fairing just traps too much damn heat for summer riding."

So here's the $64,000 question: "Yeah, but is it any cooler?!"

If the answer's "No," well, I think you're gonna have to just shoot yourself. I think I saw a monkey with a gun earlier. Maybe he can lend you his.

JG

 

[falcon]

I've put almost 100 miles on the bike now. I added some additional struts to support the headlight assembly and it is solid now.

I am absolutely delighted at the results. We're having a hot spell here again in dallas. It was 85 last night, and I was just fine riding around. The bike definitely runs cooler and throws a lot less heat at the rider.

Once the temperatures get too cold for naked riding, I'll put the original fairing back on and weld up my front-end contraption and paint it, having it ready for next summer's heat.

Meanwhile, aerodynamics have taken my interest. I'm going to continue to think about airflow over the headlights and gauge cluster, and how different it is from the windshield. I am fascinated at how the air rolls over different surfaces and affects helmet buffeting and noise. I'll probably cut and try several different configurations of mini-fairings to see which one I like best. (The frontal area of the stock fairing is huge and creates a TON of turbulence, even with the windshield completely removed, which I did a couple summers ago) I think I'll be able to create a pocket of stable air for my helmet to sit in, although I don't think I'll come up with anything better than the original fairing for long distance riding, where you never know what kind of weather you're going to get, and nothing beats tucking behind the full-up windshield when you drive into a cloud...